Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Korean companies scrambling to connect with Biden administration
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung, LG, POSCO, Coupang and other Korean companies are rushing to hire Korea-friendly former U.S. politicians and bureaucrats to more effectively respond to rapidly changing political and business conditions in the world's largest economy, according to company officials and analysts Tuesday.
They said there has been growing need in recent years for companies to strengthen their ability to lobby the Biden administration and Congress as they expand in the U.S. By opening offices in Washington, D.C., and appointing former political figures and administration officials as their public affairs executives, Korean firms have been seeking to convey their opinions successfully to American policymakers and thus deal more flexibly with any policy changes there.
“The hiring of bureaucrats or politicians familiar with Washington's situation at local U.S. offices is aimed at appealing and representing Korean corporate interests in the U.S. government's policy changes such as supply chain issues,” said an official at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). “The role of their local offices, especially the Washington, D.C., office, has a separate function from their manufacturing bases in the U.S. The move is seen as a strategy to respond more flexibly to uncertain situations.”
She also said Korean companies are trying to open offices in the U.S. capital and strengthen their lobbying more actively during the Biden administration than the previous Trump administration. “The trade disputes between the U.S. and China have intensified since the Trump administration, but the Biden administration has often taken action in the process of the dispute. This means that uncertainties about the business environment have increased.”
The latest example of such lobbying activities in the U.S. came from LG Group, which appointed former White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin as head of its Washington office, to be opened in March.
“We are about to open our Washington, D.C., office. We have searched for a person with competence and decided to appoint Hagin as chief,” a spokeswoman of LG Corp. said. Hagin is expected to oversee public affairs for the U.S. government and Congress.
For LG, which has a diverse business portfolio ranging from home appliances and chemical products to battery cells for electric vehicles, it is crucial to increase its lobbying capabilities as semiconductors and batteries increase in value, and are classified as national strategic assets in many advanced countries.
Samsung Electronics also said it hired former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert as executive vice president for its U.S. branch. The tech giant said Lippert will lead Samsung Electronics America's North America public affairs starting next month. He served as U.S. ambassador to South Korea from 2014 to 2017.
"Mark brings decades of public policy experience to Samsung Electronics America, as well as a deep understanding of how geopolitics impacts business in the U.S.," K.S. Choi, president of Samsung Electronics America, said in a statement released Feb. 16. “He is a proven leader and an effective diplomat, and we are thrilled that he will be bringing his profound expertise and enthusiasm to Samsung in Washington, D.C.”
In addition, Korean steelmaker POSCO hired Stephen Biegun, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, as adviser for its American business in 2021.
“He has a long history of working as an executive at Ford, so he has a deep knowledge of the automotive industry and is quick to grasp local policy trends with abundant networking assets. POSCO Group is considering a number of new global investments, including in the U.S., following the expansion of its battery material business, so we expect that we are able to receive advice from him,” a POSCO spokesman said when asked why the company recruited Biegun.
Coupang, a Korean e-commerce company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, also appointed Alex Wong, former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, as its head of public affairs last June.
The e-commerce company said it recruited the ex-Pyongyang negotiator, as “Coupang scales and grows its operations in South Korea and beyond, transforming the global e-commerce model by launching its services in new markets across Asia.”